


Historio / estonteco

by blua and oro (vehlr)



Series: Blue & Gold XY-XX - Mainverse [3]
Category: Blue Beetle (Comics), Booster Gold (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-17
Updated: 2014-08-17
Packaged: 2018-02-13 13:54:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2153166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vehlr/pseuds/blua%20and%20oro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(history / future)</p>
<p>Life would have been easier, she thinks often, if she had never gone back. It had not been intentional, either – that was the worst of it all. She had just... sort of bumped into him, and then an adventure had followed, as it always did whenever they were together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Historio / estonteco

It is a message, he says.

“You know, for me. In the future.” He does not look up from his frantic scribbling. “It's not really breaking any rules if it's coming from my past, right?”

Michelle Carter wants to punch him in the face. She also wants to kiss him. But right now she can do neither.

 

***

 

Life would have been easier, she thinks often, if she had never gone back. It had not been intentional, either – that was the worst of it all. She had just... sort of bumped into him, and then an adventure had followed, as it always did whenever they were together.

And in fairness, the whole squirrel debacle was his own fault _entirely_. Serves him right for sweeping an alien princess off her feet and then trying to back out of the deal.

He had cottoned on to the fact that she was a future Booster Gold pretty quickly, and luckily for her the constant lies that now came naturally to her had trained her well to summon a fiction to spin him about his life in her present. It had hurt – gods, but it had hurt – and she is not entirely sure he bought the story, but it went unquestioned from then on.

And so it happened, the secret life of Ted Kord and a future Michelle Carter. Mysterious adventures that he never mentioned once to anyone else, a chance to commit every line of his face to her memory forever, a joyous light hidden in between the dark depths of policing time and lying to everyone in her life – it was no wonder that she felt content enough to hang around until the last second, before her past self dropped in.

This is, however, the last new memory she will get to keep. Ted had already started asking her about his latest project – the mystery that Barbara had pointed him towards, of his finances on the wane – and she knows that the end is coming. There will be no more stolen moments of laughter, no more adventures between adventures, no more dodging questions about a future that could never exist. She had meant to leave already, really, she had. She had meant to turn and run, far away from this moment. But he had asked her to stay, and she had lingered... too long.

 

***

 

He motions to the pendrive, wedged underneath an empty coffee mug, bringing her thoughts back to this present, and she shrugs.

“Why not just leave yourself a note?” she asks.

“This _is_ a note, of sorts. Besides, you know me – I'll lose it or something. Always losing things.” He stops writing for a moment, brows furrowing in thought. “Can't seem to keep hold of _anything_ these days.”

The statement makes her heart ache, and she reaches out to him, touching his shoulder lightly. She remembers this, remembers how long it had been since they had talked properly, before he showed up in the wind talking about debts and the old days. Right now, his Booster is probably on the phone with her agent, hashing out the Miami deal. _A lifetime ago, now._

He looks up at her sadly. “Is this it? Is this how we stopped being friends? I know we haven't talked in a while, but... I mean, we're still okay, right?”

The tears escape before she has a chance to stop them, but she manages a weak smile anyway. “Oh, Ted... it's okay. This isn't the end.” And, as lies go, it is complete and whole and it burns at her, and it must show – for Ted all but jumps up from the chair, pulling her into a tight hug as she buries her face into his shoulder. “We're going to be okay,” she whispers, heart heavy. “I can tell you that much. I'm going to be around in your life very soon, I promise.”

“Will I be an ass?” he murmurs, and she wants to tell him that he will be a hero, that he will be missed more than he could know. She pulls back, chuckling.

“Of course you will. But so will I. God, I will be SUCH an ass. Sorry in advance.”

He smiles, a soft expression that will burn onto her memory forever. “Me too. Which is why I need you to give future-me that pendrive. I want us to talk again, 'Chelle, I don't care how bad things are between us. I know we're better than that, we can rise above anything. So... go to him. Me. Whatever. Give him this, and tell him he's an ass. Okay?”

“Sure.” She pockets the small device, wiping at her eyes. “Anything for you, Ted.”

 

***

 

The Time Sphere re-enters the lab, and Michelle stumbles out to find Rip eyeing her carefully.

“You okay?” he asks, and she swallows hard, shaking her head slightly. She had not told him where she was going, but the man was smart enough now – he understood what each expression meant, where the damage was. In another life, they might have been dear friends. But Rip is not the right person to talk to, not about Ted, not after... not after the lessons he had tried to teach her.

“Mikey?” Her voice is hoarse, shoulders weak, and Rip can only gesture through to the living area. She rests a hand on his shoulder in gratitude before heading to find her brother. Right now she needs to be held.

 

The pendrive sits in a drawer, the last broken promise.


End file.
